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Riley Gaines slams ‘spineless’ ESPN for Women’s History Month special honoring trans swimmer Lia Thomas

ESPN included transgender swimmer Lia Thomas in their segment dedicated to Women's History Month

AUSTIN, TEXAS: Former champion college swimmer Riley Gaines has slammed ESPN for including transgender swimmer Lia Thomas in their segment dedicated to Women's History Month. Gaines competed against Thomas in the NCAA championships in March 2022 and has since been associated with the campaign against transgender sports.

"Lia Thomas is not a brave, courageous woman who EARNED a national title. He is an arrogant, cheat who STOLE a national title from a hardworking, deserving woman. The @ncaa is responsible. If I was a woman working at ESPN, I would walk out. You're spineless @espn #boycottESPN," Gaines wrote on Twitter. 

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'Keep female sports female'

ESPN's segment, titled 'Celebrating Women's History Month,' has a voiceover explaining how Thomas became the first transgender athlete to win an NCAA Division One championship in the 500 freestyle back in 2022. Thomas competed for three years at Penn as a man, Will Thomas, before the transition. Thomas breaking women’s records has, like always, raised questions about how fair it is when people who are born as men compete as women. There has been a lot of debate surrounding what is fair on the field, the court, the track, and in the pool. 

Gaines, who has been very vocal about the issue, said at an event in 2022, where she was invited by former president Donald Trump, "Basically, all I want to say is that it takes a brain and common sense and fifth-grade biology level understanding to realize that this is blatantly unfair. It's completely obvious. I'm just gonna say keep female sports female."

'What an utter disaster'

Many slammed ESPN for its segment honoring Thomas, with one user writing on Twitter, "How can any woman work at ESPN after this? The network is just openly mocking them at this point." "Long live the patriarchy," one user said, while another wrote, "What an utter disaster and a shame". "I will celebrate history months when real history is told. When men and women are again recognized. When race is not an issue. When America is great again," one user said.

"Why watching ESPN is not on my todo list anymore….," one user wrote, while another said, "This is pitifully sad. Sorry to the other competitors. They were done wrong." "This is just gross and insulting to women. Time to cancel @espn," one user wrote. Another said, "A slap in the face to all women during women’s history month. Good job @espn".

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